Flexible hair curling device



Feb. 23, 1965 N. L. SOLOMON 3,170,469

FLEXIBLE HAIR CURLING DEVICE Filed May C51, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l UL II! II INVENTOR.

NATHAN L. SOLOMON ATTORNEYS Feb. 23, 1965 N. SOLOMON 3,170,469

FLEXIBLE HAIR CURLING DEVICE Filed May 31, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR. NATHAN L. SOLOMON ATTORNEYS 1 be resistant to the chemicals in the solution.

United States Patent ce 3,170,469 FLEXIBLE HAIR CURLING DEVICE Nathan L. Solomon, P.0. Box 550, Englewood, NJ. Filed May 31, 1961, Ser. No. 113,815 r 5 Claims. (Cl. 132-39) Hair curling as practiced today in the home and beauty shops involves division of the hair of the user into various tresses or swatches. Each of the tresses or swatches is evenly Wound on a hair curler and by dampening the curled tress with water or by chemical or heat application or the like, the swatch or tress is caused to take th form imparted to thehair by the curler. 1

Asis well known in the art, during hair Waving treatment, the hair filaments elongate when dampened with water or waving lotions and contract when drying If a curler does not embody adequate means for compensating for the elongations and contractions of the hair filaments during the curling process, the hair swatch wound thereon'frequently becomes-loosened and the individual hair filaments become displaced and take the curl form existing under the loosened ordisplaced condition, which does not produce the optimum curl, which of course is the desired result of the curling operation. Also,'a satisfactory curler should allow the hair to be spread evenly over the curler surface, and should not provide points of stress concentration with respect to the hair filaments. Often after hair waving lotion has been applied to the tress of hair, the'individual' filaments become brittle andare easily broken or harmed by stress concentration's. v

Further, the wave setting solutions widely used to form curls are usually highly lubricating in nature, thus mak- I ing'it difiicult to roll the hair curlers with the fingers of the user without encountering slippage between the fingers and the curlers. Also, the waving lotions used today are often corrosive to many of the inexpensive metals heretofore used in curlers, thereby requiring the use of expensive, non-corrosive metals or coating the less expensive metals with paint, enamel or thelike so as to However, the ends of the metal. strip or 'coil, where cut, are often --easily corroded by the hair waving solutions.

in'drying. However, these prior'art curlers lacked inherent resiliency and flexibility to readily conform to the contour of the scalp or maintain the hair under constant tension when hair waswound thereon or else were too expensive to sell widely.

Other prior art curlers used a combination of metal springs and cotton mesh-netting. This type of curler used costly material'and was .difiicult and. expensive to assemble. v

A cottonmesh cover is placed about the spring surface so that anyradial coinpressionof the curler, such as 3,170,469 Patented Feb. 23, 1965 Often times the separate hair holding means made the curler non-conformable to the scalp and was-uncomfortable for the user to keep the curler in'the hair overnight and irritated the scalp of the user. Additionally, the metal, especially the ends, was adversely affected by chemicals and dyes used in hair waving solutions sometimes discoloring the hair.

Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and effective hair curler which retains the hair filaments from circumferential movement about the periphery of the curler when a swatch of hair is wound thereon and which simultaneously holds the hair filaments under tension.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a resilient, one piece hair curling device in any color requiring no assembly and which allows the hair to be spread evenly over the curling surface, and which restrains the hair wound thereon from movement.

Another object is to provide a onepiece, flexible curling device which is sufficiently rigid to maintain its general shape while having a swatch of hair wound thereon, and readily conforms to the scalp of the user and also flexes during the winding operation for holding the wound hair under tension duringwetting and drying of the hair and returning to its original shape after removing the swatch of hair.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a hair curling device having an integral spring coil for supporting the tress wound thereon .and for maintaining flexibility and compressibility of the curler which coil thereon'will not be discolored or adversely alfected by the acids, hydroxides, chemicals or dyes, such asused in hair waving solutions.

A still further object is to provide a light weight hair curling device that willpositively engage and maintain the ends of a swatch of hair placedon the device preparatory to winding the'hair onto the body of the device without injury to the individual strands of hair and suififciently flexible to allow the userto wear the curler overnight without discomfort, if desired.

spiral coil covered 'by .a serpentine stretchable mesh. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a hair curling device that accomplishesall of the above and yet is simple to use and inexpensive to fabricate, light in weight, allows free evaporation of any moisturein the hair and is reliable and durable in use.

Other objects and features of the invention will beat)- parent when the following description is considered in connection with the annexed dawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view partly broken A away of a hair holding device in accordance with the pres ent invention;

FIGURE lA'is 'a portionof the hair holding device 7 shown in FIGURE 1 beingflexed;

occurs during winding of the h'air, separates-the mesh H from. the spring circumference, thereby producing an the tress to be, curled, when starting to roll; the tress.

device 11 hasior its cu rl support surface a spiral orh eli- FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of-FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary front showing a further embodiment of this device;

[FIGURE 4 is, an enlarged cross-sectional view of a por- .tion, of the helical coil of FIGURES showing the formation .of bristles thereon;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of apparatus for making one embodiment of the curling device; and I FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIGURES.

Referring now to theembodiment of the present invention shown in-FIGURES 1 and '2 there is shown an ,elon gated, "generally cylindrical, curling device 1 1 Curling elevational view 28 thereon.

eating waving lotions are used;

cal coil 14 having the desired length and defining the desired diameter.

Coil l4 defines a generally cylindrical body 'or winding drum, whichis expandible' and 'contractible in both a longi- -tudinal:direction and inversely in a radial direction. At

' foppositelends of ,coil 14 and integrally connected thereto are a pair or" circumferentially continuous end rings 16 and 18. Advantageonsly the outer diameter of end rings 16 and 18 are, greater than the outer diameter of c'oilll4 so as to aid in avoiding marking the curl mounted on curler '11 by the locking device, as will be discussed more fully hereinafter. Further, end rings'ld and 18 prevent fila- .ments. of the tressbeingwound on the curler form being laterally displaced from the curler body.

integrally connected to end rings 16 and 18 and mounted on and integral to the outer peripheral surfaces of corresponding portions of coil 14 are a series of flexible serpentine-strips or strands 20 which form an open mesh radially outwardly from the outer peripheral faces of coil 36 are a multiplicity ofrspaced apart teethor bristles 40. Teeth or bristles 40 are relatively long and slender and preferably made of a resilient flaxible material. It is desirable that bristles 4% be made from a material that is quite resilient andhas a high degree of springiness so that they always maintain their shape, and will notharm the filaments ofhair or. scrape thescalp of theuser'while wearing the curler. As'se'en in FIGURES 3 and 4, coil. .36 has bristles 4t) integrally projecting therefrom throughout its entire length. However;theportionsfof coil 36 having bristles 41 extending therefrom may be varied.

Bristles 4t positively hold'and maintain 'the'ends of a swatch of hairin positionon the surface of the curler in nettingZi'. Advantageously, to permit free flexing of adjacent spirals of. coil 14,'as indicated at '22 in FIG- I:

URE 1.

Preferably, mounted across'on'e end ring of curler 11, shown'inFIG-URES -1 and 2 as 16, is an arm 26. Supported by arm 26 is a-toroidal member27 having aslit A stretchable cord, not shown, may he slipped through slitZS and; adapted tobe stretched along the surfaceof curler 11 and be removably mounted on the opposite end ring 18 for preventing the hair wound on the curler from-unrolling.

*Upon initially rolling hair on mesh 21 portions of strips 7 20 between adjacent segments of. coil 14 as indicated at 22 will flex inwardly. The inwardlyfiexed portions of strips -20 maintain the filaments 0f the swatch of hair wound th ereon under tensive'stress at'all times, because of the? a simple and easy manner preparatory to rollingthe swatch onto the curler as well as restraining the strands of hair from circumferential movement during and after winding and prevents the strands fromslipping axially along the periphery of the curler.

defined by mesh 21 and helix 14.-

a After the tress or swatch'of hair has been wound upon the curler of the. present invention, the swatch-isseci red by any conventional hair. grippingmeans such as a bobby pin, hair pin or-resilient clamp held inmemberZY' to hold the hair in place and to retain the curlerdroni being accidentally displaced from the hair..

Itwill be understood that the 'ciirlerdevic'eis a one piece integral curler and can be constructed of any suit able material.

the resulting molded curler produces a firnr and yet .slightlyr.'yieldable tubular body which will bejsoft upon expansive forces tending to return the strips to their norand contract becauseof being treated with water, lotions,

*mal peripheralposition. I As :the hair filaments elongate;

etc. and .through'drying, the resiliencyaandfreedom of movement or give, jof'str'ips 2t) tend to compensate for-the.

tracts. Similarly, curlerlll can expand and contract lon- -gitudinally in accordance. with the radial forces exerted thereong selongations and contractions vofthe hair by flexing outwardly from their inwardly flexed position or permitting "them to 'befurther flexed inwardly if thehair-further con er 11 draws the coils of said helix towards each otheriati the [compressive portion, indicated at 24, and separates the pentine strips'zll 'tend to'become straight, when expanded as, at 2 3, and overlap when compressed,as at 24. Even when' curler Ilis severely-flexed or compressed, the mesh [remains integral to thehelixwand maintains its cylindrical shape..l Forthese reasons,*the curler is readily compressible, but sufficiently firm'to. support a curl.

curler during the rolling operation, when the highly lubri A'further embodiment-of the curling device is seen in coilsof said helix at expanded portions 23.. 'The ser" '70 FIGURES 3 and 4, wherein a curling device 30 hasv end s 1' rings 32 -a nd 34 interconnectedbya helicalcoilfifi. Disj posed on thelouter "peripheral faces of coil 36far d end j .rings' fiz and 34 are'a' seriesof "flexible strips 38, :shown, f similarinnature to strips 20 described above. Extending the head and yetcan readily conform to the contour of the sealpof theuser while'givingthe integrally molded bristles sufficient resiliency; and durability for." long andcontinued use.

Such a resilient plastic may be 'polyethylene. However, the present curler will be flexible and conform to the headof the user ,even if the helical coil is 'madeof a rigidmaterial. 1 7

One process of manufacturingcurling devices described above will now be described with respect to the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. a

.Cu'rlers of the typedisclosed in the present application areadvantageously made of plasticlby 'thertinjection I molding process. A multi, cavity mold is indicated gen- V "orally at 5 in FIGURE15'. Mold StB has a cavity and generally stationary portion 1 indicated generally at 55, V which is attached tot hezend .of-the. nozzle of the injection -moldi ng machine ina conventional manner, not shown.-

As viewed in FIGURE 5 the injectionf noldin'g machine would be 'to the left and-above mold fill. J Stationary part '55 has a series of caVitiesSBtherein. Surrounding cavities '58 are cavity'platesi 'dtl and 62 shown more clearly in FIGURE 6. Each Cavity 'Siihas arunner 64 communi- V eating therewith and communicating awith the; heating cylinder via'a spruefefi for admission of the heated plastic; At the point Where each cavity 585 intersects with runner.

surfaces defining cavities 1 58, which forrn the serpentine stripszii'a'sshown in FIGURE'l. AlisocaVityzpla'tes and 62 have aligned transverse-groovesopposite ends I of'the cavitylfiti and '72 and. 71 and" 73irespectivelyifor 'forming'-'end"rings I6; and llSQ-iAs seen-best in FIGURE '6, longitudinal grooves 63'communicatelwithend grooves 70, 71 and-72 ahdJS. Agplunger'orcorelpin'fiti is slidably While projecting the bristles integr'allyfrointhehelix is preferred, ifdesired, a brush can be inserted .c'once'n .trically within the curler body shown in'FIGURE 1-... The bristles would have a radius larger than. the radius of 1 curler 11 so as toprojectbut beyond the rolling surface I But from the standpoint of economy and 9 weight-it ;would',be desirable to form the same from a. .plastic material having reasonably high flexibility so that m. haul.

' of wear.

received in each of the cavities as indicated in FIGURE 6. A helical or spiral groove 78 is cut in the outer surface of plunger or core pin 76 for forming coil 14 of curler 11. Helical groove 7 8 is of a predetermined length and so positioned on the outer surface of core-pin 76 that when core pin 76 is fully received within cavity 58, opposite ends of helical groove 78 communicate with respective end grooves 70-71 and 72-73, as seen best in FIGURE 6. Core pins 76 have an outer diameter for cooperative sliding engagement with the corresponding inner surfaces of cavities 58 and have sufli'ciently close tolerances for preventing'plastic flow therebetween during the molding process. Core pin 76. can be slidably received'within acavity 58 when cavity plates 60 and 62 a're'fu'lly closed, such as seen in FIGURE 6. The outer surfaces .of core pin 76 abut the inner surfaces of cavity 58.

After the hot plastic has flowed into cavity 58 and grooves 70, 71, 72, 73, 78 and 68 and cooled sufiiciently, movable portion'56 is moved a predetermined distance away from stationary portion andsimultaneously core pin 76 is rotated for removal from its respective cavity. After core 76 is removed from its corresponding cavity, mold plates -and 62 are fully separatedfor removal of the molded curlersp Mold plates 60 and 62 separate in I any convenient manner, as is.well known in theiart, and p In operation the plastic material is heated in a conventional ejection molding machine. If necessary, suitable connections are made to the mold for heating or cooling as required, none of which is shown. The proper timing sequence of operations are. also adjusted in a well known manner. A shot of heated plastic is ejected from the injection molding machine and passes through sprue bushing 65 then along runners 64 to cavities 58.. Gate 66 controls the flow of material into its corresponding cavity 58. Material flows into a cavity 58 and fills end grooves 70 and 71 along spiral groove 78 on core pin 76 and into communicating mesh grooves 68 on the inner surface of cavity plates 60 and 62 and fillsend grooves 72 and 73. After sufiicient cooling, which in the present embodiment is a few seconds, pr'imemover 115 urges shaft 117 in a direction of arrow 122, as seen in FIGURE 5, which in turn moves movable mold portion 56 in the same. direction. f Advantageously, mold plates 60 and 62' separate slightly, on the order of a few hundredths of an inch. Moving movable portion 56 along shafts 80 and. 82 rotates pinion wheel 1 10-by action with rack 112. Rotation of pinion 110 is transmitted throughgear reducer 106 and suitable rotates pinion Wheel 104., Driven pinion wheel 104 moves the molded curlers areejected from cavities 58, separated a from their respective runners and a finished curler 11 is ready for packaging. 1

" One manner. of accomplishing this is disclosed in FIGURESM Movable portion 56 of mold 50 is slidably mounted on shafts 80 and 82 on bearings 83. Shafts 80 and 82 are fixedly mounted on a foundation plate 84 by pillowblocks 86 positioned atopposite ends of each of the respective shafts. Pillow blocks 86 are held in place by inner side face of sprocket wheel 90 is juxtaposed to a spring washer93, which in turn is forced against a bearing surface of moving mold portion 56. Spring Washer 93 keeps sprocket wheel 90 in proper alignment regardless Sprocket Wheel 90 is maintained in position 5 I and urged aganist spring washer 93 by a lock washer 95 and a lock nut 97 threaded on a threaded end of core pin 76. Core pin 76 is rotatably mounted in'movable frame portion 56 by means of roller bearings 100.

Sprocket wheel 90 cooperatively engages a sprocket chain 102 which engages sprocket wheels 90 on each of core pins 76' as indicated diagrammatically in FIGURE 1 5; As shown best in FIGURE 6, sprocket chain 102 is maintained in" cooperative engagement with respective sprocket wheels 90 by means of the overhang 103, of

movable mold plate 56 which prevent vertical displacement of sprocket chain 102, Chain 102 is rotated by a 112 mounted on the upper surface of shaft 82. As

sprocket chain 102 at a predetermined lineal speed, thereby rotating sprocket wheels90, mounted on correspond.- ing corepins 76, at a predetermined rotational or angular speed. Thus, core pins.7.6. are rotated simultaneously while being longitudinally removed from their corresponding cavities 58. At a predetermined interval during the retraction and rotation of core pin 76 from cavities'58, cavity plates 60 and 62 are separated along partingline 53 and the undercut hole opposite the sprue pulls on the sprue, which normally breaks, loose from the hotter material closer. to the nozzle and comes outatt'ached .to the movable 'mold. half. When cavity mold plates 60 and 62 are .partly separated, the knockout pins move outwardly from the mold plate surface'and push the molded article from the mold. This is not shown.

. In a well known manner, the outward movement of the may have an over-riding clutch so as to prevent rotation of sprocket wheel 104 during the insertion movement of core pins'76 to prevent excess wear.

While sprocket wheels were shown mounted on the A free or outer end of core'pin 76, a sprocket wheel can be integrally formed thereon. Further while a sprocket wheel and chain arrangement were shown for rotating core pins 796, other ways may be providedfor accompanying this, such as the use of a rack andvpinion worm and worm wheel, etc. arrangement j Further the rotation and reciprocating movement of core pins76 can be provided separately by a series of'ele'ctric motors which are sequentially regulated by solenoid 'or other timing means with the movement of movableframe 56. v

Thus, there has been disclosed the manner of making I a plurality of one piece molded hair curling devices each shown, movableportion 56 is reciprocated by an hydraulically operated or an electrically operated mechanical toggle mechanism indicated generally at 115, Prime mover 115 is connected to movable portion 56 by means of a shaft 117 and a frame plate 119 which allows for proper adjustment by means of a lock nut arrangement 120. A further embodiment for reciprocating mold plate having. an elongated, flexible, 'expandible and compressible hollow body for forming a light weight, ventilated flexible structure on which a curl is formed and any 1 moisture in the haircan evaporate freely. The curling device of the present invention positively holds and main-' tains the separate strands of a swatch of hair on any portion of its rolling surface without further effort required' by the user, as well as exerting continuous ten- 7 sion von'the strands-forming-the curl for automatically adjusting to the tension of the curl duringits setting l yieldable Wall of said body.

differences oftension of the hair which naturally occur in the :curling process will produce a curl which is not 100 regular or uniform in diameter and therefore will not-look artificial. Additionally, a method has been shown for producing a one piece curler havinga spiral hair support element.

While the best results are obtained from the curler described above when the strips forming the mesh are not interconnected between consecutive coils,[satisfactory results'can be obtained if'adjacent serpentine strips are connected.

While preferred embodiments have been described above it will be understood that many'variations therer of will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art 1. A one piece plastic hair curler comprising annular end members, a continuous helix-forming a 'helical. coil extending between and integrally joining said end members for forming a generally tubular body, and a series of spaced apart longitudinally extendingserpentine mem? bers integrally joined to' said coil.

--2. A one piece hair curler-comprising annular'end members, a continuous helicalcoil extendingbetween and. integrallyljoining said end "members for defining a gen erally tubularbody, and a series of spaced apart longi tudinally extending members 'integrallyjoined. to said coil, said.longitudinal members being extendible and bendable between consecutive coil for forming afiexible .3; A one piece plastic hairscurler corriprising annular 'end members, a continuous helix forming :a helical coil extending between and integrally joining said end mern I bers fo'rfldefining a generally tubular surface, a series of v 3/53; 7 1 2,796,872 6/57 Mussy" 132 -40 7 2,811,973 11/57 Pileggi et al. 132.42 X, n 2,838,053 6/58 Zimmerman .'.l32 42 X 7 2,876,495 3/59 Spillman' 18j'30 2,888,937 6/59 Weldon 13233 2,894,284 7/59 Allison et al. 18- 3 0 2,964,046 12/60 Rubino 132741 X 3,073,318, 1/63 Catania 32 4 .11

1 NJPAT NTS 1,217,241 12/59 France.

Q 7 V 1 a u I bers integrally joined to said coil and a' multiplicity of spaced apart flexible-bristles extending outwardly from said tubular surface; 4. A one piece .haircurler comprising, a continuous helical, coil forming agenerally tubular body and a series of 'circumfere'ntially spaced apart longitudinally extending flexible strips integrally interconnectingconsecutive helices of said coil, said'strips having a length between consecutive helices greater than 'the distance between connections to saidwcon'secutiv'e helices forfforming a flexible yieldable Wall. 1 1 5. A one-piece hair-curler tcomprising a helical .coil

defining a generally tubular surfaceaplurality .ofspaced apart longitudinally extending flexible strands integrally interconnecting consecutive lhe'lices of :said coil, said strands being? extendible and bendable between con* secutive helices and a plurality ofbristles extending outwardly from said tubular surface.

References Cited by the Examiner I UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,247,890 10/60 Fran e.

. RICHARD A. ,GAUDET, primr nmm nerf 1 i .spaced apart longitudinally extending serpentine meni- LOUIS I. DEMBQLAVERNEYD; 'G'EI'GER, 5 a 7 Examiners. 

4. A ONE PIECE HAIR CURLER COMPRISING A CONTINUOUS HELICAL COIL FORMING A GERERALLY TUBULAR BODY AND A SERIES OF CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED APART LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING FLEXIBLE STRIPS INTEGRALLY INTERCONNECTING CONSECUTIVE HELICES OF SAID COIL, SAID STRIPS HAVING A LENGTH BETWEEN CONSECUTIVE HELICES GREATER THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN CONNECTIONS TO SAID CONSECUTIVE HELICES FOR FORMING A FLEXIBLE YIELDABLE WALL. 